Friday, August 08, 2008

Sunday Scribblings - Ask

This week's prompt wants us to write about the questions we want to ask, or have asked or have been asked, etc etc.

Instead of putting more questions into the World (can you imagine how many question marks are floating above our heads as we keep asking and wondering and don't always get a satisfactory answer? - oops I just added one myself, inadvertedly)...I'd like to ponder solely about the questioning act in itself.

(I've just realised it's hard to ponder on something without opening the gate to a dozen more question marks!!)

There are many states of being: serenity, wonder, sadness, joy, worry...in reality many of these are emotions. Questioning is an unique state of being, incluing possibly doubt, curiosity, uncertainty, a mix of different emotions. There are many kinds of questioning, no doubt, but in common an expectancy of an answer from outside, from someone, from the future, from the Universe. We want to know, we create a connection with something else in the Universe, expecting a reply. In some ways, a question is a communion with the Universe, we give something from ourselves, our words and our views made into a sentence (or many). It is also inherently a human state of being. Animals don't ask questions, even if sometimes they look at us in a certain way.

I wonder if that little moment when our minds are formulating a question or that other one when our mouths are preparing to express it verbally can be physiologically explained and what this explanation would tell us (you see, I could've put this into a question too but I avoided it). Because it truly is a state like no other.

Afraid I have to differ on the notion of the "un"-questioning animals. I've no doubt our blue heeler Blue is often asking me, "What? You want me to do what? Do you take me for a fool?" He may not be searching for deeper wisdom, but he sure as hell wants to know what's up with human (read: my) foolishness.

We only find answers when we ask questions..we tend to think our questions are dumb and that we should already know..therefore we tend not to ask enough questions.So more questions please!(unless you're a parent and the child in the back seat has asked "Are we Nearly there yet?" for the eight hundreth time!!

Some admirable searching there. Curiosity is the major thing, I think, that makes us human. But your identification of 'doubt' also holds importance. Modern western philosophy was built on it, with Descartes Radical Doubt. Indeed, without doubt, we don't question - we just have belief.

Granny Smith: I didn't intend to but the post lead me to that conclusion!

Lucy: Yes, Yes! ;o)

Vesper: Wow, I'll remember that next time ;)

Stephanie: That's a great idea, a World Faq. I think so, I think most people go through the same stages and questions but we might be a little bit original and ask slightly distinct questions...

Danni: Ah thanks, I didn't mean it to be very philosophical, but nothing else came out of my typing fingers. ;)

Murat: I hesitated on the animals part because I remember my dog staring at me with his head tilted (do you know that pose?) and I was quite sure he was questioning me. But logically I still don't think so. lol

The question that is asked to draw another being into our circle of thought is the one I love the most. What do you think? How could that be? Really? The trick is to listen to the answers...the one thing we too often fail to do.